Tort Law It is in the best interest of Athletic Directors and coaches to know how the rule of law pertains to athletics, physical education classes and recreation as our society today has become very litigious (Wolohan, 2013). In the case where a tort or wrongful act in which an injury occurred, whole departments, institutions, along with the individual who are in charge of oversight may be sued for negligence (Wolohan, 2013). In the past, it usually was just the individual who needed to be concerned. Hence, because of the increase in civil tort suits associated with athletics which are being brought to our court system to be resolved, sports law has become a major course of study at our colleges and universities (Wolohan, 2013). Therefore, having knowledge of what is or is not a tort, may be helpful to sports administrators in how they manage staff and facilities. Furthermore, the three types of common torts that affect athletic departments are negligence, intentional negligence, and defamation. Hence, examining each further may be helpful to athletic administrators and staff in preventing civil tort law suits. Negligence In a school setting, negligence is the most common of the three torts seen in our courts (Decker, 2011). …show more content…
Koffman, plaintiff, a 13 year old student-athlete attending middle school in Botetourt County, Virginia. The plaintiff was injured and broke his humeros bone in his arm during his first year of playing organized football while participating in a tackling drill. The defendant, assistant football coach James Garnett, an employee of Botetourt County School Board, positioned the plaintiff with a football in arms, and unpredictably with force, wrapped his arms around Koffman, lifted him of the ground by at least two feet and knocked him into the football turf (Wolohan, 2013). It is important to note that the plaintiff, an adolescence male, only weighed 144 pounds to the defendant, a mature male adult, weighing 269
Similarly, we discussed the Koffman v. Garnett case in class when Richard and Rebecca Koffman, on the behalf of Andrew, sued Garnett in a Virginia court for gross negligence, assault, and battery. The situation was that Coach Garnett used Andrew Koffman in a tackling demonstration. Therefore, he then proceeded to pick him up 2 feet off the ground and threw him to the ground, injuring him to break his arm. Nevertheless, a sport manager should ultimately realize that liability is a serious risk for any organization and should be extremely careful of the situations by not putting themselves at risk for any liability, since they can face a civil lawsuit or criminal prosecution to the fullest extent of the law for their negligent behavior by harmfully injuring another
Gevinson, Matilda. Ethical Rules on Sport’s Justice. Dallas: East Dallas Times, page 21. 2008. Print
Nearly every aspect of law enforcement has a court decision that governs criteria. Most court rulings are the result of civil lawsuit towards a police officer and agency. However, currently, there is no law that mandates law enforcement driver training. When it comes to firearms, negligence by officers has resulted in a multitude of court rulings. Popow v. City of Margate, 1979, is a particularly interesting case that outlines failed firearms training by an agency. In this case, an officer chasing a suspect during a foot pursuit fired at the suspect, striking and killing an innocent bystander (Justia.com, 2017). The court ruled that the agency was “grossly negligent” of “failure to train” (Justia.com, 2017). As a result, nearly every agency requires annual firearms training and has written policy concerning the same. Officers must show proficiency in firearms use every year to maintain their certification. Many states even impose fines on officers for
It has been said for years that any case of educational malpractice was doomed from the start. Because of this, it was a huge surprise when the Iowa Supreme Court denied the defendant, Cedar Rapids Community School District’s motion for summary judgement. This was a case where a student sued for negligent misrepresentation by a school guidance counselor. One reason why the court may have denied the motion was because it was trying to protect a category of people who were considered especially vulnerable, the student-athlete.
In recent years several high profile national cases have brought hazing to the forefront in American society as a real issue and a problematic one at that. According to recent statistics from the University of Maine, 1.5 million high school students are hazed each year. Of the athletes who have reported hazing, 40% have reported that a coach or advisor was aware of the activity. 22% report that the coach was actually involved in the activities. (Allan & Madden, 2008). Moreover, 36% of students say they would not report hazing primarily because “there’s no one to tell,” and 27% feel that officials or coaches won’t handle the situation right. In additional research a survey was conducted in which coaches were questioned about whether they believe that hazing goes on in their community; 50% responded yes, that hazing was in fact going on. Of the coaches who responded 25% admitted that they themselves were hazed in some form at a younger age (“InsideHazing”, 2010). In light of these findings, the question of who should be responsible is raised. Specifically, it brings up the legal question of “whether a coach has a valid qualified immunity defense to a student athlete’s constitutional rights violation claim when the student is involved in a hazing incident.”
White, D. V. (1986). Sports violence as criminal assault: Development of the doctrine by Canadian courts. Duke Law Journal, 1030-1054.
Tort law is a very prevalent aspect of conducting business and daily life in the twenty first century. According to the textbook, The Legal Environment of Business, tort law provides “remedies for the invasion of various protected interests.” (Cross & Miller, 2012) In this essay about tort law, I will talk about a tort case that has personally impacted me. To do so, I will provide a background of the event, apply facts of the case to applicable law, summarize lessons of the week as they relate to this case and provide a plausible argument for the parties involved.
Sobocinski, Eric J. "Marquette Sports Law Review." College Athletes? What is Fair Compensation? 7th ser. 7 (1996). Print.
Stephen J. Gulotta, Jr. (1980). Torts in Sports--Deterring Violence in Professional Athletics, 48 Fordham L. Rev. 764 Retrieved from: http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol48/iss5/5
In this, they could get hurt or injured in the game or at practice. If this happens for many of them, it is game over. Their athletic career had ended even before it got a chance to have a favorable outcome. In addition, since the students are not considered as employees when an injury occurs, they cannot recover, and they are swept under the rug (Dosh 203). Therefore, to further the students dream and ensure that they keep on playing the game they love, it is necessary for them to be given full advantages of an
In the world of professional sports there are many criminal acts that are committed both on and off the playing surface. In this section we are going to look at a few cases where criminal acts have occurred.
Tort liability is important for teachers that if a child is accidentally injured at school or due to negligence, the student’s parent may take legal action against the school or the teacher. The issue of teacher and school liability in today’s controversial society tell us that anyone can be a lawsuit. Teachers should be educated as to his / her liability in the classroom and be aware of how to minimize exposure to lawsuits and student/ parents complains. Teachers tort liability depends on where and how the injury occurred, the teacher’s actions or inaction, and the evidence on the whole. Just like anyone else, teachers are only responsible for torts if all the elements of negligence are proven.
In today’s society, especially sporting activities involving youth and young adults, it is imperative to ensure the safety of those involved. When an individual is injured either physically, emotionally or both, there is the concern of legal action towards coaches and the association conducting the sporting activity (Wolohan, 2013). The litigious culture that Americans live under has produced a heightened awareness to avoid negligence in athletic activities through proper training and education (Wolohan, 2013). Negligence is defined as an unintended accident that has caused injury to a person or material goods without a premeditated plan of action to cause pain and suffering (Yiamouyiannis, 2008). For that reason, the
allow a remedy in a particular case as it would open the doors to many
There are two types of law in the U.S. judicial system: criminal law and civil law. Civil law is considered as a law that is designed to address private wrongs. “A private citizen who believes that he or she has been injured in some way by another may sue that party for damages” (Hemmens, Brody, & Spohn, 2013). Civil law as stated before is the settling of disputes between private citizens since many disagreements can arise concerning anything from property, contracts, and even personal injuries. Therefore, civil laws can provide citizens remedies for the individuals who are considered harmed by another. These cases are divided into four categories: torts, property, contracts, and family law. Each one of these categories are broken down into specifics and are handle in a variety of ways.